The Lies Of The Lighthouse

Sorry about all the fog and slo mo. Had to upload this 6 times before the copyright demons would let it through. EDIT: I refer to the way Wake switches from "Friend" to "Boss" on a whim as "Schizophrenic" at one point. This isn't an accurate description of how schizophrenia works, it's just a stupid stereotype that I rather recklessly wrote in without thinking. Sorry to anybody bothered by that.

"It's almost as if the island itself is farting in Howard's face." There's the professional analysis I came to see.

After watching this movie I decided the next level up from "gaslighting" is called "lighthousing."

I know this vid is two years old but an interesting thing I wanted to add; when you’re a ship at sea, a lighthouse is not something you go towards, it’s something you avoid. They mark hazardous waters, full of rocks and shallows. Howard and wake both battle over it and you’re never meant to be near it in the first place.

can we just talk about how amazing the acting by both men is?

I've always felt that DeFoe was a superb actor, but his portrayal of Thomas Wake made all of his other roles look like freshman attempts. The accent, alone, was a magnificent achievement, but he really lost himself in this character. Anyone who watches this film, whether they realize it or not, is witnessing an historic level of acting...and I doubt that I'll see its equal before I die.

my favorite part about this is the subtle implication that if old and young just kissed all of their problems would be solved

5:35 IMO people have been getting the seagull’s symbolism backwards. Perhaps that was Wake’s former dead partner’s head in the lobster trap. But the seagull is a representation of the former partner. In that when Howard kills the seagull, he is re-enacting Wake’s brutal murder of his former partner. Howard sees the seagull as Wake saw his former partner, always pecking at him, trying to get a piece of what Wake had. This would align with one of the central themes of the movie, and possibly its central horror, which is that Howard IS Wake. They are the same person, at different points in time, and with different relationships to power and property. By killing the seagull, Howard is proving that if he were in Wake’s position he would do the same. This is what is meant by “seagulls carrying the souls of dead sailors” as well as bad luck. By killing the seagull, Howard sets the cycle of killing into motion once again. There is no truth in this movie, because it is each character’s motivation which distorts their perception of events. Each sees themselves as the hero for trying to fulfill their own desires. But neither perspective is reality.

That part where you talked about your work experience and driving home past normal, mid to low level houses and knowing you could never afford them. It made me cry, covered me in goosebumps. I used to be an independent contractor that walked incredibly rich people's dogs in lower Manhattan. One time a rich dog owner complained to my not boss that I smelled too bad and I was reminded of Parasite. We weren't allowed to pee in their bathrooms. I'd go into their apartments and it felt like going to another planet. I've never known that comfort and never will. The shame was so deep, so absurd and unknowable and to hear someone with near the exact experience, it made me feel good to know a lot of us are here together, we're there together.

This movie hits me hard now. I watched it first when it came out, I had caught it in theaters. I liked it but didn’t consider it much. But then not long after, I was an assistant living in an unfamiliar place, living with my crazy, old, emotionally unstable boss, when quarantine hit, and we basically had no company but each other for months. This movie was on my mind a lot during those months.

As an underpaid worker living in a shitty one bedroom apartment, constantly saying "someday" this hit like a fucking freight train. That ending had my jaw on the floor, my hands white knuckle gripping my phone like it'd fly away if I gave it the opportunity to. You've made a masterpiece of a film analysis with this. I've never had a long form video essay hit me like this before

"ill raise my own roof...no one to tell me what for" i felt that. i dont, cant, aspire to the life i desperately dream of. that dream isnt even extravagant but even that is beyond me. now i just want to be left alone.

I love that this movie uses a near perfect square for its aspect ratio. Square composition has such a strong and balanced look to it. It's why a lot of album cover artwork always looks so well balanced and iconic.

My god this is such an interesting sober and insightful video about- Power Fart appears in big flowery letters on screen

Your monologue at the end really resonated with me. I'm a mental health worker. Been working in the field for 8 years. I love the work itself. It's hard work, and does not pay very well, but I'm good at it, and I get to help people. I've recently realized, though, that the field does not reward people who are passionate and work hard. It rewards people who smile and nod, and blow smoke up their manager's ass. I'm very outspoken in advocating for my clients and their needs, and that outspokenness has ultimately hurt my chances of getting promotions and moving up in the field. When I do something that proves management wrong, I'm punished for it. Even when I'm right, I'm wrong. Even when I'm a good worker, I'm a bad employee. I think I need to re-watch The Lighthouse with the perspectives you've laid out in this video. You make a lot of points that I hadn't really considered when I first watched it. Really well done video essay.

When watching this film, I was led to believe that this was a representation of the Greek myth where Prometheus was punished by Zeus as he obtained forbidden knowledge and bestowed it to man, banishing him to have his liver be pecked and eaten by an eagle for all eternity, and it would regrow every night to maximize his pain. I believed the light represented wisdom that only Wake could tolerate and what sent Howard into insanity and be eaten by birds in a similar fashion to Prometheus. But what you made evident is that there is no knowledge in the light, there is no supernatural element that even exists in the movie. It’s just two liars in isolation going insane with hunger, alcohol abuse, isolation, and conflicting superiority complexes that have them desperately struggling to be on top of a nonsensical hierarchy of dominance and view the light as the source of unlimited power. But in the end, it’s just a light. Brilliant review as always, and great work.

I remember this kind of torment. Growing up I was working under a strict and condemning narcissistic father who always wanted control, like you said, he always had to “win.” The way you describe the old man wanting to switch between being boss and then friend was my father. He took joy in “blessing” us and doing nice things for us but when we didn’t adore or praise him he would scream and throw a tantrum and accuse us of all being selfish ungrateful spoiled brats… He had 0 tolerance for disobedience of any kind whatsoever; he had to have complete control or he’d lose his sanity. He beat us for disobeying him under the guise of teaching us “respect” and “discipline” while he himself sat and watched tv and bossed us around hiding under how “hard he worked for the family” and again accusing us of being spoiled and ungrateful. So we never were at peace. Mom made us work so we wouldn’t anger him, because she was so scared of his anger. We lived in total fear all the time, and could never let out guard down. One time while on vacation he became irate and screamed at us and accused us all saying we “weren’t grateful” for all he did for us when he offered us McDonald’s and we all said we didn’t want it. He was a fucking monster. He had no concern for our hearts or feelings while simultaneously berating us for not caring about his feelings. He beat us regularly, threw my sister across the room into her bed in rage once, hit holes in the walls, kicked baskets of laundry down the stairs, punched the counter top during dinner and more, all to them turn around and act sorry for himself and expect us to feel sorry for him and how hard his life is. There is no end of the hatred I feel towards him. Daily I wish I would have kicked his ass as a kid or stabbed him so he would stop hurting my mom and sisters and me… maybe if I got his leg he wouldn’t be able to chase us down to hurt us. You’d never expect what many horrors took place behind the white washed walls of upper-middle class “spoiled” kid’s houses like mine. Our house was a mandatorily clean prison of fear, dread and panic. At church and work he was loved by all for his fake facade, but on the car ride home he took out all the anger he really felt about how fake he was on us. And yet, somehow my poor heart feels sorry for the monster he was because I changed when I saw my true self and felt my feelings instead of pushing them down. Somehow I keep going back to feeling guilty and sorry for him and even feeling compassion for him… only for me to wake up in my dreams of what he did to me with pure unbridled and murderous rage.. but I know he’ll never care. I know he’ll never love me. If your own helpless child is so much of a threat to your sense of control and power as a man that you must attack them and ritualistically beat them into total submission how can you ever love them? He’s the lowest form of human life. He deserves to suffer. God have mercy on his soul.

This movie makes me feel like absolute garbage. And you've outlined perfectly why.

"A [work]place that worships competition, will always become a war."

Something Ive never seen mentioned but i noticed on my 3rd watch through is how at the scene around 12:13 - Wake goes from discussing his old helper's demise, to immediately warning Winslow about not killing the seagull. Then when Winslow gets slapped and stands up, his shadow at 12:18 almost looks like there is a second shadowy head above his own heads shadow. And right after that Wake looks like he saw a ghost, and stops the conversation.